Stagnation is not an Option
by eostellary
Summary: Another term in the Academy has passed and nine year-old Shikadai found himself waking up early despite that it's the first day of summer holidays. While it was may be a drag to continue his education of his own volition, it was more troublesome to have his mind at a standstill for a few weeks whilst waiting for his curriculum to formally move forward.
1. First of Summer

For the sake of those who might be unfamiliar:

Tou-chan - Dad/Father  
Kaa-chan - Mom/Mother  
Baa-chan - Grandmother  
akachan - baby  
Oyaji - Another term of endearment referring to one's father

* * *

Teal irises lethargically accustomed themselves to the steady flow of morning light into the room. Vaguely, their owner feels something amiss before the irritating sound of his alarm clock disrupted the quiet. Shikadai groaned and swung his arm lazily towards the offending gadget before he threw his covers off and rubbed the last of the sleep from his eyes. He knew he had to go down soon, lest he wanted his hurricane of a mother to fetch him personally. A verbal berating is not what he would like for breakfast. He had that once and he certainly didn't like it.

"Ohayou," he mumbled lazily, plopping himself before the table and resting his cheek against his crossed arms that were warming themselves on the wood.

"Are? Aren't you quite the early riser today?" his mother jibed softly and he didn't have to look up to see the smirk playing about her lips. Shikadai sat up straight as Temari set his breakfast down before him. "Ohayou gozaimasu to you too, my little fawn."

He had learned how to cope with that little nickname he seemed to have been stuck with ever since he was born. Then again, it was better than being called 'bambi' but his little sister didn't seem to mind it. "Academy..." Shikadai said in simple explanation.

"Academy?" Temari repeated, her little smirk growing wider before she let out a snigger. "Oh, akachan. It's your first day of summer holiday."

The usually unexcited expression on Shikadai's face contorted into a deep frown and he closed his eyes before letting out a huff. Without a word to his mother, he poised to stand up to go back to his bedroom intending to claim some more hours of sleep. However, his mother wasn't a fearsome kunoichi for a reason and as swift and light as the wind, he felt a hand grasp his wrist firmly. "Sit back down."

'Mendokuse,' he thought silently not wanting to detonate a nuclear bomb so early in the morning. Shikadai followed his mother's orders and tucked his legs beneath him. "Oyaji? Yuri-chan?"

Temari, content that her son was going to join her for breakfast, handed Shikadai his chopsticks and pushed the tamago plate to him once more. "Your Tou-chan has an early appointment with Naruto in preparation for the Shinobi Alliance meeting next month. Your sister...well, she is still with your Baa-chan. I arrived far too late last night and didn't want to wake them up only to have them sleep again."

Nodding, Shikadai gulped down some milk first before he started on breakfast. "Shinobi Alliance? Shouldn't you be involved as well? Ambassadress-ing and all?"

"Not if I had already finished my job yesterday. All that's left is for your Tou-chan and your Oji-san to decide what to take to the meeting before we all go in a month's time. I have two weeks off from ambassadorial duties unless my name comes up on the mission rosters."

"And what will you do for two weeks, Kaa-chan?" he asked, curiosity and innocence evident in his tone. It was a foreign concept to him, how his mother would be off any of her duties. She seemed to be a busy person overall (but not as busy as Oyaji), even if none of her roles are being sacrificed. He certainly doesn't feel her figurative absence as a mother. She just is able to stretch herself thin and still look well-rested (and pretty, he could add, but he chooses not to since many of his male classmates were the ones who volunteered that description. It wasn't that she was not...it was just a little _weird_.). "Are you going to watch clouds or surf the sofa all two-weeks long?"

"Who am I, your Tou-chan?" she asked with a chortle. "It takes quite a lot of time in a day to properly run a household, my little fawn. And when I came home last night, I saw so many things that need to be arranged or re-arranged. Honestly, this place might crumble if I spent any more day out of it. Also, what better way to spend my short leave with my babies? Though I am inclined to leave Sayuri with your Baa-chan at least until today. I did promise her five days of pure Sayuri bonding. I might train in the forest today."

A soft and discreet smile managed to break through his lips even if he tried to suppress it in an attempt of being cool. However, four straight days without the physical presence of his mother (thank Kami for video chats) rendered him longing to spend some quality time with Kaa-chan, even going as far as him craving one of her very stern lectures. "Well...then...can-can I join you? Oyaji told me he'll teach me more shadow jutsu on Saturday but it's too troublesome to wait for it."

His mother's face broke into a proud and bright smile. He had to shake off her hand as it tousled his untied hair, groaning as he patted it down once more. "Of course, my little fawn. I'll be more than happy to train you today."

* * *

A few hours after found them packing a picnic of light sandwiches and potable water inside a dainty basket. The mother and son pair had agreed to train the whole morning away and eat lunch by the creek that flows near the training grounds in the Nara forest. Temari had the mind to pack another set of clothes for her son and another set of undergarments for her. "Right, then. Let's warm up by walking for a mile then going into a sprint when we reach the central oak tree."

"Sprint? But the food..."

"What about the food? It's part of training, my little fawn. There will come a time when you would be sent on a recovery mission or someone in your three-man cell would be fatally wounded. Shinobi who abandon their allies are considered scums of the Earth, sure. But what good is not leaving your teammate if you can't properly take care of them whilst in transit? Not only does the possibility of further damage or wound infection rise, the possibility of mortality rises as well," Temari explained.

Shikadai blinked up at his mother and thought that when he asked her to train him today, he didn't expect that training would begin even before they went out of their house.

"So then...you want me to carry the basket with our food and drinks and I need to figure out how to transport it carefully while sprinting towards the training grounds?" he asked, deducing what his mother must have meant when she mentioned going on missions. "I guess I could do that."

Smirking, Temari tousled his hair once more and chuckled when almost none of it were displaced since Shikadai had already tied it up properly into a single ponytail. "You look extremely like your Touchan whenever you put your hair up like that. Had you inherited my hair colour, you'd look so much more like me no matter how you keep your hair tied."

"I don't know which to take as insult and which as compliment."

"How about neither? Your Touchan is quite handsome. And I suppose I'm not the ugliest in the world."

"My classmates say you're very pretty, Kaa-chan."

"Oh? Do they? Well, thank them for me."

"Yeah, yeah. I don't agree. You're beautiful, Kaa-chan."

Temari grinned brightly at her son, the same toothy grin that she had flashed Shikamaru years before when their friendship has just started, before she chuckled and pulled him into a hug. "You are such a smooth talker like your Touchan, my little fawn," she said melodiously before peppering kisses on the boy's face, much to his slight annoyance.

"Kaa-chan..." he groaned helplessly in the middle of it all, but secretly feeling smug that he had put a smile as wide as that on his mother's face. Maybe he should compliment her more often.

Regaining composure, the Suna princess stood up straight once more and flashed another endearing grin to her son. "Hai, hai. I've got my fair share of Dai-chan's kisses today. I think I am good to go."


	2. Endurance

Nani - what  
Onegaishimasu - please  
Wakata - I understand

* * *

Shikadai couldn't believe it. There he was taking refuge and having a breather under a sturdy oak tree. The mile and a half's worth of sprinting with a relatively light picnic basket clinging to his back made him a bit breathless but his mother, who carried a _Tessen_ on her back, merely wiped a small droplet of sweat on her brow.

Honestly, he believed she would be the one who was more spent after sprinting that long since he was younger than his mother. Age definitely does not correlate to one's endurance, and that was what he had learned after ten minutes of hopping from one tree branch to another.

"There is a canister of water in the basket, assuming the food is still intact," Temari smirked at his son, which made the younger Nara roll his eyes.

"They're fine, Kaa-chan," he assured, taking the said canister out and taking huge gulps of water before sealing it once more and wiping his lips. "How are you not tired?"

The smirk on her face grew a little and she chuckled as she readjusted her fingerless gloves. "For starters, I have been doing this shinobi thing ever since I could walk. Training is second nature to me already and I refuse to be out of shape. Heck, I trained even when I was pregnant with you and your sister. No sparring but I did what I can. And I train every morning when the sun isn't up yet."

Shikadai cocked his head to the side, looking up at his mother with a confused expression on his face. "Every morning? When do you have the time?"

"Unlike you and your father who like to make the most of sleeping, I wake up at four in the morning and train for two hours. By six thirty, I'll be back in the house like nothing happened."

"Does Oyaji know?"

"I think he has an idea…After all, I need to escape his embrace before I could get out of our bed," she shrugged. "Now, if you've recovered your breath, we're going to train that endurance of yours. No child of mine will be falling to his or her death after just a few miles of sprinting. Let's stretch."

"Aren't you going to take your Tessen off?" he asked as he stood, pointing to Temari's signature weapon.

"No. My Tessen is part of me. I treat it like an extra limb. I should be able to move freely with it strapped to my back, or else it would just be an inconvenience. So, no. Every single moment while I train, it remains strapped to me unless I'm using it," she explained.

"Exactly how heavy is that?" he asked, finishing the last counts of his lower limb stretch. The teal-eyed male Nara caught a yelp in his throat when he was suddenly picked up by his mother. "Kaa-chan?"

"I had to confirm," she smirked, setting him down. "I'd say it weighs about you and half of you combined."

"That fan is heavier than I am?" he asked incredulously.

"It is," she nodded then turned toward the hill that was at the other side of the clearing. "Now. Here's what we're going to do. We're going to continue doing legwork but we'll have to combine it with some chakra control on your feet so we're going to run the whole length of the creek, up the hill, then you see that rock formation over there? We'll run to the top of that. Sounds good?"

"Y-yeah, I guess…" he said, unsure.

Temari laid a reassuring hand on her son's shoulder and squeezed. She smiled down to him endearingly as she tilted his chin up gently to have him look at her. "This is technically nothing new, my little fawn. You already know how to walk on water and on an upright cliff. We'll just speed up that walking. And Kaa-chan's here to help if you get into trouble, all right? We're training right now; don't forget that. I don't expect you to get the hang of it the first time. Also, I didn't say we need to go fast. Go at your own pace and I'll be right behind you."

Shikadai blinked up at his mother and nodded. "Wakata. I'll do it. But…but if we're going to work on my endurance, how will going at my own pace help that?"

She stood up straight and shook her head fondly. "You're my son."

His brows furrowed and he gave his mother a look, as if he were thoroughly displeased with her answer. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"You'll see."

And her gut feeling was correct. At first, Shikadai sprinted as he did earlier trying to gain footing and balance on the water first. When he was sure with his momentum, Temari saw that her son pushed himself further to increase speed and she adjusted accordingly.

The kunoichi couldn't help but smirk in pride when she saw him pushing himself. Clearly, the child had inherited her perfectionist tendencies and she was just planning to exploit that today. She reiterated it to herself; Shikadai may have inherited his father's distinct characteristics but every now and then, the child would prove to them that he was his mother's son as well.

Their sprint up the creek and up the hill was almost flawless, save for a few slips on the water but that was to be expected. The boy almost fell into the water and she had to let out a chuckle at that, to her son's annoyance and as if he wanted to expend that annoyance, he sprinted faster than before.

"Lower your stature. The more compact you are, the easier you'll be able to run since you'll have to deal with air resistance less," she coached from the back.

Temari had a determined look on her face and little did she know, the same facial expression was on Shikadai. "Maintain your momentum. Increase your speed when we get up hill and do _**not**_ slow down."

Temari had hoped her son would be able to absorb everything that she had said. Maybe she should have discussed the semantics of it more before having Shikadai immerse himself in the actual practical. Then again, she knew her son and she knew how his mind and body worked. Shikadai learned best by doing. Just like she does.

Halfway up the hill, Temari became confident that they would be able to do this without a hitch and she was extremely proud of how much Shikadai pushed himself just at this little warmup activity.

She had never trained her son immensely, what with the academy covering the basics of it when he was younger and with Sayuri arriving just around the time Shikadai entered the Academy. Now that Sayuri is able to spend some days without needing her that much, she can properly devote some more time for Shikadai's shinobi training.

The blonde Suna princess was enjoying the breeze and how it let her mind wander a bit but she almost had a heart attack when Shikadai leapt and failed to find purchase on the face of the stone cliff. The kunoichi could feel her heart ringing in her ears as she grabbed Shikadai's hand and hurled him upwards so he could land safely in her waiting arms.

As if on instinct, Shikadai grabbed the shoulder part of her kimono tightly before he released a relieved sigh. She was sure both their heartbeats were racing at the little mishap. She may be the cruelest kunoichi to have ever lived but she was a mother now, first and foremost. It was only natural that she would experience something short of a heart attack when she saw her child falling.

"I got you, akachan," she assured her son and placed a little kiss to the side of his head. She carried him till halfway down the hill and set him down on his feet once they were on the ground.

Temari leaned against the tree to steady her heart rate and waited as Shikadai regained his composure. There was no point in dwelling on the _what could haves_ so she merely let out another sigh, running a hand down her face. She started to think that maybe this was why she hadn't had the chance to train Shikadai until now. Had she done this sooner, she wasn't sure if she were emotionally prepared for it.

"What do you think you did wrong?" she asked gently, getting straight to the topic.

Shikadai frowned and pursed his lips as he replayed the scenario in his head. "I think… I think I slowed down a bit…even if you told me not to. The, uh…the cliff… I was unsure about the cliff so I faltered."

The mother nodded in understanding and pushed herself from the tree. "I know you know why you shouldn't do that so I am not going to explain anymore. It's just a matter of knowing how and when to apply what you have learned in your classes. You're a smart boy, my little fawn. We just need to work on pulling out your knowledge at the right time to make use of it on the field.

"Also, you need to determine when to use your logic over your emotions. Tasks such as running up a cliff, you need to put mind over heart. Logic and strategy are the pillars of the training of the Nara clan. You can't let something like the height and inclination of a cliff scare you."

It returned, the determined look on Shikadai's face as he absorbed his mother's words. He looked behind her, gazing up at the throng of trees before him before his teal eyes settled on the stone cliff. "I want to try it again," he said firmly.

Temari smirked widely and nodded. "Why do you think I landed us halfway down the hill and not at the boundary between the hill and the cliff?" she asked rhetorically.

Shikadai rolled his eyes but grinned nonetheless. Oh yes, his mother was very sly. And maybe, just maybe, trainings with Kaa-chan were more exciting than he had ever anticipated.

* * *

"Some view isn't it?" Temari asked, breathing in the cool breeze and exhaling dramatically as she took in the sight of Konoha before her. From where they stood, they could see half of the village and the whole of the Hokage mountain. It truly was a beautiful sight.

"Yeah. And it's just at our backyard. Well, maybe after running up a hill and cliff…" Shikadai said cheekily, leaning against his mother.

Temari wrapped an arm around him and squeezed him endearingly. "You did well, my little fawn," she praised him sincerely. It took only two more tries before Shikadai was able to climb the steep cliff and she, as his mother and a shinobi, was proud of that feat.

"Arigatou, Kaa-chan," he smiled. "Now, teach me how to go down. Onegaishimasu." The boy had to add that word after, lest he wanted to be smacked on the head for being impolite. Tact and social ethics were drilled into him early on by his parents. They must have figured that having a tactless son would bring shame to their name as esteemed _ambassadors_.

"Everything's essentially the same. It's just a matter of how you angle your body as you sprint down. You'll be dealing with the strong force of gravity so you need to lean back because the minute you lean forward, you'll topple over and you'll be deer snack by the time you get to the bottom," she explained.

"That's not funny, Kaa-chan," he rolled his eyes.

"Which is why I won't be laughing when it actually does happen. Let's pray to Kami-sama that it does not."

* * *

The sprint down was much easier to do, if Shikadai were to be asked. He mostly did as his mother said, leaned back just the right amount whilst keeping chakra focused on his feet. After a few more minutes, he was never happier for his feet to touch the ground once more.

"Can I ask for feedback?" he asked as he squatted down and massaged his shoulders a bit. "How did I do? And do you think this endurance training was effective?"

Temari smiled and chuckled, thinking to herself how much of a perfectionist the boy sitting in front of her was. And she questioned why she ever doubted if Shikadai inherited something from her aside from her eyes.

"Generally, you did well. I noticed that once you regained footing on the creek, you pushed yourself to increase your speed. I say that as far as endurance goes, it was pretty effective. We didn't encounter any problems up the hill and once you got the technicalities of it, the cliff sprint was close to flawless. You just need to be more observant of the terrain before you. It wouldn't always be sunny and dry. Sometimes you need to do missions while it's raining so take that into account as well," Temari said, sitting next to her son.

Shikadai made mental notes on what his mother said and vowed to himself he will take what she said seriously. True enough, his father was a brilliant shinobi but he was more of a strategist than anything. Kaa-chan was more of a fighter. And a serious, cruel one at that. The thought excited and made him nervous at the same time. "Thanks for saving my hide back there, Kaa-chan."

Temari flashed her son a wide grin and chuckled to mask the ramming of her heart once more when he had mentioned their little mishap earlier. "It's no problem, my little fawn. I'd be a horrible mother if I didn't. Besides, I didn't carry you for nine months, have to go through 37 hours of labour, two hours of pushing just to have you die on me while training. I put you in this world; I get to decide when to take you out of it."

Shikadai blanched and he was sure the horror he felt at his mother's words was very much evident on his face. "N-Nani?"

Temari laughed melodiously at how her son took to heart the last statement she said. Now, he looked more like Shikamaru with that spooked expression of his. "Oh, relax. It's not true."

"Oh. Thank Kami. I thought it was all true," Shikadai said scratching his head.

"Ah, the last sentence, no. The rest is true, about your gestation, labour, and delivery…so you best think twice before defying me again or at least attempt to be stroppy after all that I had to go through to breathe life into you."

"R-right…sorry."

The Nara matriarch chuckled and pinched her son's cheek endearingly. "It's okay. T'was worth it after all," she cooed then turned serious. "But seriously, think twice. Thrice, even. Or I'll send you flying to your uncles in Suna."

"Wakata, wakata!"

Rolling her eyes, Temari stood and dusted herself off. "You only need to say it once. Now, come on. Let's spar."


	3. Combat

Osoi - slow  
Matte - wait  
Nande- what  
Iie - no  
Ojii-sama - a really formal way of saying grandfather  
-hime - princess  
-ouji - prince  
Ichibo Senri - one of Temari's favourite phrases roughly translating to 'One view, a thousand miles' or 'sweeping view of the eye'  
Korase - concentrate  
Daijoubu desu ka - are you all right  
Daijoubu - I'm fine  
Gomene - sorry  
Atsui na - it's hot  
Fuuton: Kazekiri no Jutsu - Wind Release: Wind Cutter Technique  
Kamaitachi - Sickle Weasel Technique  
Sugoi na - It's so great/wow/etc  
Mendokusai na kono gaki - what a troublesome kid  
Kowai na - that's scary

* * *

Temari squinted her eyes at her son. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Sparring with you?" she heard her son answer tentatively before standing upright. "Did I do something wrong?"

The Konoha-Suna jounin sighed heavily before straightening up as well and placing one end of her Tessen on the ground so she could lean her weight on it. "You're not being serious about this. Have you suddenly changed your mind about training this morning?"

Shikadai shook his head and frowned. "N-no. I still want to train, Kaa-chan."

"Then come at me seriously."

"I am being serious!" he insisted and crossed his arms, looking away from his mother.

The blonde shook her head and huffed. "Look at me," she instructed and when her son turned his gaze towards her again, Temari kept her serious expression. "Don't think I don't see through your moves, Shikadai. You're throwing punches and kicks without the intent of landing them. Instead, you're diverting them to the direction which I can easily dodge, to the direction where you know I would catch them, and even to the direction where my handedness is dominant."

"Maybe you're just really good, Kaa-chan," Shikadai shrugged nonchalantly, which made Temari a little bit annoyed. _She_ certainly wasn't this cheeky when she was his age. Must have come from Shikamaru's side of the family.

"I would appreciate the compliment if it really were the case," Temari said bluntly. "Are you afraid of hitting me, akachan?"

Shikadai turned his head away from her once more and hated the fact that he felt a slight blush tingling on his cheeks. "N-no," he replied shakily, definitely smacking himself inwardly when he sounded so very unconvincing.

Realising the truth, Temari tipped her head back slightly and let out a short yet hearty laugh. "That is something you don't have to worry about, my little fawn!"

His facial expression turned sour and he huffed as he crossed his arms one more. "I know, but you're _Kaa-chan_! It kinda doesn't feel right."

The Suna princess shook her head lightly and smirked at how adorable her son was being. "Did you already forget where we are and what we're doing? You should've left those inhibitions the minute we walked out of the house. I came here to the training ground with you as a shinobi firstly, and as your mother secondly. Should've known better than assuming I'll take sparring with you personally. Besides, how come you can spar with your father but not with me? That's a bit unfair, don't you think?"

The pout on Shikadai's lips was too cute to ignore and Temari had to stop herself from fawning over it so she wouldn't embarrass Shikadai even if they were the only ones around at the time.

"I know," Shikadai agreed if a little hesitantly. The shinobi-in-training closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and steadied himself once more. He brought himself to a fighting stance and got serious like his mother asked.

"That's more like it," she smirked, lifting her Tessen from the ground and holding it as if it were a Bo. "Don't hold back, akachan. Let's work on your attacks."

Shikadai gripped his kunai tightly and charged at his mother, or rather, charged at the cruelest kunoichi, ducking low and going to deliver a leg sweep. However, she was quick and jumped out of his range effortlessly causing him to tumble sidewards.

" _Osoi_! Don't let your opponent know where you will strike. Keep your eyes _on_ them as a whole and don't focus on just one body part!" she said, straightening up and letting her son pick himself up. "You might encounter opponents who possess Kekkei Genkai that will allow them to read your every move. You cannot sell yourself out."

Shikadai nodded but cocked his head to the side. "But those ones are allies of the village, right?" he asked as he set into another stance. "Uchiha, Yamanaka, Hyuuga…" He charged toward his mother and put her instructions into action. He managed to land a kick on her Tessen before doing a backflip to regain his footing.

"Mm, but you must never be so foolish to believe that they are the only ones who do. The shinobi world is very wide and there are still a lot of techniques unstudied and unrecorded," she said blocking Shikadai's kunai with her fan. "Your aim is unstable. Don't throw it so blindly when in battle."

"Matte," Shikadai said, standing up from where he was crouching.

"Nande?" she asked as she threw him his discarded weapon.

"I want to spar without weapons first," he reasoned, catching his kunai. "Your Tessen is a bit distracting. And it's giving you a lot of advantage."

Temari chuckled and nodded, placing her precious weapon within its straps on the back of her kimono. "I suppose I should have thought of that first. Now, then. Shall we continue?"

* * *

"Pull your opposite shoulder a bit back when you throw your punch," she instructed, ducking gracefully and doing a successful leg sweep on her son before doing a successful arrest on him. "See?"

Shikadai winced at his mother's grip on his wrists as she dangled him mid-air. Her strength as a shinobi was definitely no farce and for a minute, he actually felt sorry for those who had the misfortune of going up against her. He can't help but let out a sigh when she put him down.

"You see, our muscles work symbiotically," Temari began. "To put it simply, a set of muscles will enable an action while another set will be working in contrast in order to achieve such. Let's say, when you curl your arm, your biceps will contract and your triceps will extend. In punching, if you put your right arm forward, your left side must fall back a little to support your right side. It will pack the punch with more _give_ , as opposed to leaning both sides forward. You might end up hurting yourself if you do that. Similar principle goes for throwing kicks. You have to know how to make things easier for your body while maximizing its power.

"Also, you have to move as if your goal is to be streamlined. You have to make sure that when you attack with taijutsu, you have to be at your thinnest. This way, the surface area available for your opponent to land a counterattack is reduced. That is basically the equation needed for a perfect attack with taijutsu. Land a critical attack while depriving your opponent of an opportunity to strike back."

"I think I get it now."

"Good. Now, let's see it in actual practice."

* * *

"That's better." Temari dusted herself off and took a deep breath. She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and appreciated the silent wind that blew through the grounds, just in time to cool her off. "Let's take a few minutes break. Are you hungry yet?"

"Iie. Just thirsty," Shikdai said, opening and closing his fists to get the blood circulating in them properly once more.

"Numb?" Temari asked as she handed him a bottle of water. "It's one thing you should also keep in mind when doing taijutsu. You have to keep a firm fist when punching enemies, but you cannot clench your fists too tightly that all circulation will be cut off from your hand. It might take a while to recover and your blood vessels might actually suffer damage from it."

"I see," he nodded, taking huge gulps of water before letting out a sigh of refreshment. Shikadai sat down against the tree and let himself rest. "Kaa-chan. May I ask a question?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"Is shinobi training in Suna the same with training here?"

Temari sat down opposite her son and set her Tessen beside her. She hummed for a moment, thinking, before she answered. "Well, in technicalities, it's the similar. In principle, it was different before your uncle became Kazekage."

"What do you mean?"

"Well…" Temari paused, deliberating whether to tell the story of her childhood but figured it was a way to indoctrinate her son into a proper shinobi. "During your Ojii-sama's reign as Kazekage, Suna shinobi were trained as fighting machines and extreme bloodlust were instilled in us. Suna was quite a hostile village back then and we needed to have great manpower lest stronger villages like Konoha attacked us or something. Being hostile meant everyone was our enemy but that all changed when Gaara took over after forging a friendship with your Naruto-oji. The whole shinobi training was revamped and its purpose was born anew.

"In Konoha, shinobi are trained under the shadow of the Will of Fire. I'm sure you know what that means…It has been that way for ages, dating back to the Shodai Hokage's reign. Sure, it may have faltered along the way but it never truly was extinguished. In Suna, the Will of the Wind is like a newborn baby. Great efforts are being exerted to ensure that it grows and lives to its true purpose."

"Did you train with other shinobi, too, Kaa-chan?" Shikadai asked. "Being Suna's princess and all…"

Temari had to roll her eyes at that. It wasn't that it was an accepted fact in their household, it was more of that Shikadai has the false belief that the title entailed a regal way of living for her, rather than being trained like a war machine. "Iie. Baki trained me and your uncles personally since we could walk. We never received any institutional education but we had private tutors growing up."

"That's very elite," Shikadai chuckled, crossing his arms behind his head. "Temari-hime… And Boruto's proud that his Kaa-chan is the princess of the Hyuuga clan. Mine's the princess of a whole village!"

"It's nothing more than a petty title, my little fawn. I certainly didn't feel like a princess like those daughters of a lot of Daimyo whose purposes revolve around marrying into a prestigious clan and perpetuate a lineage. Also… If anything, you're Shikadai-ouji."

"Being a prince doesn't fit me," he said, rolling his identical teal eyes. "It's too troublesome."

Temari smirked and pinched his cheek payfully. "Spoken like a true Nara."

The blonde stood up once more and attached her Tessen again. "All right. Let's finish training. We're going to work on your defence during taijutsu."

* * *

Shikadai took his mother's offered hand and stood up with her help after he fell backwards when he tried to defend himself from a punch. He dusted himself off and rubbed his forearm lightly.

"That's what happens when your form is incorrect. Your instinct to defend that way is correct but you need to focus your strength and weight to your legs. That way, you'll be more stable and you will have much more chance of not falling backwards. Also, it will decrease the chance of you breaking your back," she explained. "When defending, use more of your muscles and not just one…also, did my punch hurt? I think I got a bit carried away…"

"It's okay…just that your wedding ring kinda dug into my arm a bit," he shrugged. "It'll be fine."

"If you say so," she said, going to a fighting stance once more. "I'm going to come at you with both punches and kicks so you better read my movements quickly. _Ichibo Senri_."

Shikadai nodded and prepared himself for what was to come. He knew his mother was holding back her attacks but her blows are still quite painful when they connected. It shouldn't really surprise him, though. Temari was considered an elite ninja in the shinobi world. Konoha recognizes her as a very capable jounin and Suna treats her like a war princess.

"Shikadai! Korase!" came his mother's warning but he considered it too late when his side hit the ground after Temari landed an open palm push on his arm. "Daijoubu desu ka?"

Shikadai groaned and blinked his eyes twice, standing up. "Daijoubu, Kaa-chan. Gomene…for not concentrating."

Temari sighed and nodded. "As you say. Don't zone out. If you zone out in training, there's a high chance that you'll also zone out in battle."

"Hai, wakata," he nodded. "I'm good to go again."

He saw her hand raise a bit and he cocked his head to the side. "Something wrong?"

"Iie. You're doing a good job defending yourself while being in place, except for that last part. However, it's not always beneficial to do that. Sometimes, the best defence is taking advantage of the opponent's offence."

If he didn't show any signs of confusion earlier, he was surely showing them on his face now. "What does that mean?"

"I mean, when an opponent is charging at you, you don't always have to take the blow. Sometimes, you can jump out of the way at the last second so that an opponent will fall forward. You do that when said opponent has great momentum while running towards you.

"If you find yourself in a close-range taijutsu combat and an opponent will either kick or punch, you can grab their limbs firmly and either throw them in any direction you see fit that will put them at a disadvantage.

"Just like offence, you have to get creative with defence as well. There are more than a hundred ways to go about defending oneself in battle. If you stick to the standards, you'll be in danger of being predictable and your opponent will use that against you. One of the key points in engaging in battle is never letting the opponent know what you'll do next. The element of surprise is an important factor to take into consideration as a shinobi," Temari explained.

"But doesn't acting on unpredictability alone defeat the purpose of having a strategy?" Shikadai queried, thinking back on what his mother said earlier about having logic and strategy play major parts in battle.

"A skilled ninja does not act on one trait alone. A skilled ninja should be flexible enough and knowledgeable enough to incorporate the right amount of logic, strategy, and unpredictability in battle," Temari nodded. "Also knowing which one to use on certain situations is a must."

"Combat sure is tricky," Shikadai half-winced, scratching his head.

"It is," his mother smirked. "But I know you'll get the hang of it once you're on the field. There is no better trainer than experience itself. However…since you won't be going on missions until you graduate from the academy, Tou-chan and I will do our best to recreate real life combat situations for you."

* * *

"Atsui na!" Shikadai complained as he laid on his back after drinking water. He and his mother had concluded their taijutsu training a few minutes before. He knew he did better attacking than defending but it was something that could be worked on in the future.

"Well, it is summer," Temari remarked with a smirk as she sat down next to him. "You better dress in something lighter and cooler when we get back home. I already have your summer clothes readied in your closet."

"Hai, hai," Shikadai sighed dismissively, not really wanting to think about what to wear as it was too troublesome and somehow making himself feel more of the summer heat. "Ne, Kaa-chan…"

"Nande?"

"Can't you use your Tessen to blow some nice wind?" he asked with that lazed tone of his that he inherited from his father.

Temari pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head in slight annoyance. "Of course not. It's a weapon, first and foremost. Moreover, it's made of metal. Any wind coming from it will probably be much hotter. Besides, the wind that would come out of my Tessen will slice you into pieces."

"Meh. Worth a try," he said cheekily but lazily. Shikadai crawled to his mother and laid his head on her lap. "Will it really slice me to pieces?" he asked, looking up at her.

"It could if I wanted it to," Temari said simply, looking down to him. "Come to think of it, you've never seen me wield it, yes?"

"Mm. Oyaji says that yours one of the greatest ninjutsu he has ever seen…that you can level a forest into a prairie," Shikadai recounted, his eyes wide with wonder.

Her mind immediately thought back to when she destroyed a great hectare of Konoha's forest back when she fought Tayuya all those years ago. "Well, he's not exactly exaggerating. However, I don't exactly have reason to level the Nara forest. And the deer might get startled…"

"I want to see it," Shikadai pressed. "Just one. Even your weakest tessenjutsu."

"Shikadai…"

"Please? Just cut down a tree or two?" he pleaded, his green irises looking directly at the identical ones that belonged to his mother. "You can get money from my allowance to buy new saplings!"

Somehow, Temari still was not convinced at his son's request. The Nara forest was a tranquil forest, and she wanted to preserve that serenity. Even if they were far from the nesting area of the deer or the area where the deer frolic, it still didn't sit well with her.

"I'll tell Oyaji I made you do it," he promised, sitting up and nodding. "Just one tree! Onegaishumasu? Oyaji won't get really angry. And you might get in trouble if you do this in the Konoha forest instead of here."

"You're not going to give this up are you?" Temari sighed in defeat and stood up, grabbing her Tessen, when Shikadai shook his head 'no'. "Fine. Just one tree."

"Just one," Shikadai confirmed his gaze turning towards his mother, feeling very much excited. For the first time in his life, he will witness how she uses her power.

Temari's eyes scouted for a tree opposite the training grounds and focused on it as she unfolded her fan.

Tiger. Rabbit. Dog. Ram. Dragon. Temari did the hand signs before grabbing her Tessen and releasing a blade of wind from it. "Fuuton: Kazekiri no Jutsu!"

As soon as the wind hit the tree, it fell sideways causing a loud crash to be heard throughout the forest. The birds flew away and Temari listened closely to feel if any of the animals were disturbed by it. "That should be enough—What is with that look on your face?" she asked as she saw Shikadai pouting.

"But you only cut the tree down," he said, pointing out the obvious.

"Hm. You're a tough crowd to entertain, my little fawn."

"You said the wind from your Tessen can cut me into several pieces if you willed it to do so," Shikadai said. "I want to see that, not the tree being cut down. A lumberjack can do that."

Sighing, Temari conceded. "Fine, fine. Stand behind Kaa-chan."

Shikadai happily did so and peeked his head from behind her, watching Temari as she prepared to release a jutsu. "Maybe you can cut the fallen tree into pieces so we won't waste any more trees?"

Nodding, Temari grabbed her Tessen and focused on the fallen wood, hoping to Kami-sama that this would be the last of her son's requests. Their clan revered their forest very much and while it was very vast and thick with forestry and generous amounts of vegetation, the flora lover in her hesitates doing it to the poor thing.

"Kamaitachi!" she exclaimed with a swing of her Tessen, releasing a gale to the direction of the fallen trunk. Soon enough, the wood was slightly swept up into the air before falling in several hundreds of pieces as the wind blades cut and tore through it. "Satisf—"

"Sugoi na!" Shikadai exclaimed, running from behind her to inspect the rubble that was brought about by his mother's jutsu.

"Mendokusai na kono gaki," she shook her head endearingly before following her troublesome child. "Well, is it up to your liking, Shikadai-sama?"

Shikadai squatted down and explored the rubble before him, taking several pieces and inspecting them closely. "Sugoi na, Kaa-chan! The cuts are so clean! You have excellent chakra control! So cool!"

Temari mussed his hair and chuckled. "Thanks, my little fawn. Now, allow me to clean this up before any of our clansmen get the wrong idea."

"Where will you take these?" he asked. Autumn and winter were far away, so he saw no need for fire logs.

"Where else? I'll take them to our dear friend Hidan," she said with a devilish smirk on her lips.

"Kowai na, Kaa-chan," he shuddered lightly at the sight of the expression on her face.

Temari merely shrugged her shoulders and chuckled darkly, conjuring up a gentle tornado to carry the logs and dump them to where Hidan's chopped up body remained buried deep beneath the ground.

"Now, would you like to go on a dip in the creek before we eat our lunch?" the mother offered with a warm smile. Before she could even get an answer, Shikadai was stripping down to his boxers and running towards the cool water.

"Hai!"


	4. A Story about Suna

Ojiisama - formal way of addressing grandfather  
Obaasama - same as above only with grandmother  
Oooji - granduncle (found this on the internet so corrections are very welcome if this is somehow wrong)  
Suna no Sankyodai - The Sand Siblings  
Kekkei Genkai - bloodline limit  
Ichibi - one-tail  
Nemui desu ka? - Are you sleepy?

* * *

Temari dipped her hand into the basket and pulled out a fresh set of clothes for her son. "Seriously, so much a drab like your father," she muttered playfully after Shikadai had scampered for his soiled clothes.

"Do you always need to prepare for everything, Kaa-chan?" Shikadai asked as he stripped completely before putting his fresh batch of clothing on. The genin-to-be looked up at his mother and blinked. "You're right; stupid question."

Their little swimming venture ended a few minutes ago when the boy's stomach grumbled, making Temari giggle when he blushed. It shouldn't have been an embarrassing thing to happen; he was a growing boy, after all, she had reasoned. It didn't stop the crimson from crawling to his cheeks though.

Temari set a picnic blanket down neatly before she took the food containers and beverage jugs out. She had changed into her mission attire, even if she were just looking forward to run their household today and squeeze in a bit more paperwork. The life of a shinobi never rests, anyways. She handed Shikadai his obento before she sat down next to him and pulled out her own.

"Kaa-chan, can you tell me more about life in Suna?" he asked, popping a piece of kelp into his mouth.

Smiling, Temari nodded. "What about it would you like to hear?"

Per always, she was delightfully pleased and a bit humbled whenever her son expressed interest in her home village. Living in Konoha can only do so much in teaching Shikadai about the other half of his blood. Moments like this, when he showed curiosity towards the village that molded her, just affirms that Shikadai's Wind blood runs deep just like it does within her.

"Well, I want to learn more about your past…" Shikadai said tentatively, not really looking straight at his mother. "I-I mean…well…Oyaji said that it was not his story to tell when I asked him about it. He just said that you're a princess and that you had to go through a lot. Then he said that when I asked you, I should listen and not speak till you're finished with your tale and keep an open mind about it…It-it's okay if you don't want to tell."

The Suna princess sighed, a little annoyance seeping through. "Honestly. Your Tou-chan makes it sound like it's the most tragic thing to ever happen…" Temari groaned. "I'm fine telling you the story but it's going to be extremely long. And you're allowed to raise questions when I'm in the middle of it all. I appreciate your Tou-chan for saying that it's my story to tell and I would not have it any other way. It was going to come up sooner or later and I have long made my mind about it."

Shikadai sat up a little straighter and leaned in a little bit closer. He was about to know a huge chunk of his mother's life that he had never known before; he had best be attentive to every word she was saying.

"If at any point it becomes a little too much or the story becomes a little too dragging, tell me, okay? I'm not a very good storyteller. That's your Tou-chan's job," she shrugged. She took a swig of the cold, lightly sweetened green tea before she started. "Let's start with what you know, then. What have we shared with you till now?"

"Well…Our Suna family has been the reigning bloodline since the creation of the village. Rasa-Ojiisama is Fourth Kazekage. Karura-Obaasama looks much like you. Yashamaru-oooji is your uncle and Rasa-Ojiisama's right-hand man. You're the eldest of the Suna no Sankyoudai. Gaara-ojichan is Fifth Kazekage. Kankuro-ojichan is his right-hand man and bodyguard. We are natural Wind-wielders and have a history of the magnet-release kekkei genkai. Also, it is customary for the male clan members to pass through a rite of passage by drinking the nectar of a pure woman once we turn 10…"

Temari listened to her son recite what he knew of their Suna family so far and mostly hummed in agreement with what he knew. The kunoichi regretted how very little he knew of their family and vowed that she wouldn't let Sayuri be left in the dark for so long. She would tell the more gruesome tales when she was older, of course. _Wait…_

"Nani?" she asked once she realized what Shikadai had said last. "Drink _what_?!"

"The nectar of a pure woman once we turn 10?" Shikadai repeated hesitantly.

The Suna princess grimaced very expressively and then blinked. "Who on Kami's name told you that?!"

"Kankuro-ojichan?"

"Tch…" It was like reflex but she felt a vein somewhere on her forehead protrude, a fist clench tightly till it turned pale, and raging white-hot blood coursing through her veins. Almost immediately, her teeth ground against each other as she thought of highly creative ways to snap her brother's neck.

"Kaa-chan? Your…your chakra is—" she heard her son say but the ringing in her ears dominated her aural scope.

She counted to ten in her head, a technique Shikamaru suggested so she could calm herself in any situation that irked her. It proved helpful when dealing with snotty, narrow-minded daimyo or crabby country officials whenever she was fulfilling her ambassadress duties. Temari took a deep breath and blinked herself back to her reality, the blur of the Nara forest starting to clear up.

"Sorry…Kaa-chan got a little carried away…" she grumbled, not even attempting to mask her annoyance.

"What does Kankuro-ojichan mean by nectar?"

Her eyes ticked and she let out a growl involuntarily, which made Shikadai flinch a little bit. "It's not something you should bother knowing at the moment. Just know that your uncle made a fool out of you by making you believe that."

"He was kidding then?" he clarified, letting out a sigh of relief. "That's great because I'm turning 10 next year and I really, really don't want to drink some girl's nectar…whatever that is."

"Mm, indeed," she said distantly. "Accompany me when I go to Sunagakure two weeks from now? I think we need to pay a certain uncle of yours a visit…"

"R-right," Shikadai replied, a little worried about the puppet master's life. "So…can we get back to you telling the story?"

"Of course," she said, smiling fondly and leaning over to press a peck on her son's damp hair. "I honestly don't know where to start telling what story, so I think it would be best if you ask a question and we can go from there."

Nodding, Shikadai took another bite of his lunch and thought about her proposition. "What was Rasa-Ojiisama like? What was his story?"

"To put it simply, he was a man with good heart who was placed in a very bad timeline of reign…he was a quite a bit vulnerable, too. He tried his hardest to find a balance between serving his duty in Suna and caring for his family," Temari started.

"Some books say he was a hard ruler…is that true?" Shikadai asked, identical teal eyes full of curiosity.

"Yes, because he had to be. The clan saw him the best candidate for the Kazekage role after the Sandaime passed. He was young then and barely laid the foundation for his and Kaa-san's marriage. Yet, he stepped up to the plate because it was not in his personality to back down from a challenge or duty. Your Ojii-sama loved the village very much and tried his hardest to protect it and keep it as abundant as possible given the circumstances. His reign was plagued by Shukaku, the Ichibi, being uncontrollable at the best and worst of days. He wasn't always stern with his ruling. I think he never really recovered emotionally after Kaa-san died."

"Why?"

"Losing a loved one can bring an unimaginable pain to one's heart, Shikadai. Especially one whom you have set apart from all the others."

It took the whole of their meal for Temari to finish his father's story, from his ascension, to the great part of her and her siblings' childhood, till the part in the war when she witness his and Gaara's reconciliation of sorts. She let the huge chunk of information stir within her firstborn's brilliant mind while she cleaned their little picnic up for them, stashing the used bento boxes and chopsticks inside the basket.

"You okay?" she asked, concerned, when he didn't speak for quite a few long moments. "That wasn't too much, was it?"

She had to remember that while knowing about their family was an important part of growing up, her son was still a boy and he was still very much innocent about many things in the world. _Heck, he didn't even know what a nectar of a pure woman meant._ Maybe it was too soon to tell him about her slightly ill-fated past…Then again, she and Shikamaru were in agreement to not let their child be so spoiled, to have him be more aware of his world than they ever were. And if he asked without being prompted, that meant he was ready to know about it, right?

She began doubting herself and was tempted to curl up into a ball and shield herself from the sun. It was the way she coped when she felt herself an inadequate mother back when they first had Shikadai.

"Not _too_ much," Shikadai shrugged but she knew his mind was in overdrive. He had the same look on his face that his father has whenever his mind was anything but being lazy. "It's…something, I guess. But how was he as a father? All you said was him being a Kazekage…"

"How was he as a father? I don't think I will be able to give you an accurate answer as I was firstborn and received the greatest amount of great affection…at least for three years," Temari said.

"Still. I want to know."

She hummed and laid back against the tree, seeing no urgency to return back to their home just yet. Besides, it was nice having that moment with her son. She had missed him and his sister quite terribly when she was away on this latest diplomatic venture. And with Shikadai being in the academy and her going on more field work now, time to get to know her growing son never seemed enough. Temari doubts it ever will be but she will always find time for her babies.

"Like I said, I was firstborn. I had Tou-sama and Kaa-san's affections for the first three years of my life undivided and unshared. I guess, you could relate since your birth order is same with mine. I love him as much as I could in those days, he and Kaa-san. He was gentle and loving with me, let me sit on his lap even if he were busy being Kazekage in that office of his. He let me wear his hat and I remember amusing myself with it. Being that young, I don't exactly remember all the details but I can tell you that it was the time when I truly felt like a princess."

Shikadai did not even fight the smirk that went on his lips and he poked his mother's side to tease her a bit. She didn't like being called 'princess' but she just referred herself as one just now. "So, you admit being a princess."

Nara men really do have a way of making the mood a little spoiled with their cheek, it seemed. Rolling her eyes, Temari huffed. "For three years, I suppose. Or one. I don't think I remember any details when I was younger than three years old…"

She felt him lay his head once more on her lap and she was about to scold him for lying down so quickly after having a full meal but Shikadai looked so much like his father with his eyes closed that she couldn't bring herself to be stern at that moment.

"I think Ojii-sama's a good man deep inside. He just got lost along the way. Then had a crazy sense of direction going back," Shikadai hummed.

"You put it so bizarrely," Temari laughed. "But I suppose that's true. Nemui desu ka? Want to go back home?"

"Yes. And no," he mumbled lazily, falling into a nap.

The mother leaned down and pressed a kiss to her son's forehead, hand combing through his hair to help him have a soothing sleep before she resigned to follow suit.


	5. King

It's a two-chapter update, y'all! You might miss Ch4 if you headed here first. lol

* * *

kono yaro - you bastard  
kimochi warui na - that's disgusting  
Tadaima - I'm home  
Okaeri - Welcome home  
Nii-chan - older brother

* * *

"Rikumaru!"

"He kept me company while you slept, my little fawn," Temari informed him, stroking the male deer's soft fur.

Rikumaru was probably the deer that was very close to Shikadai. He practically fetched her and Shikamaru from the gates of the Nara forest when they were going to formally introduce the new heir to the herd of deer they were taking care of. Same thing happened when they introduced Sayuri a few years ago. Needless to say, Rikumaru was considered their family pet of sorts.

"Can we play? Before going back home, can I play with Rikumaru first?" Shikadai almost pleaded even though he didn't exactly need to.

"Of course, love," she smiled and then giggled when Rikumaru nuzzled against her cheek. "No getting dirty, Rikumaru. He just changed his clothes."

Temari took easily to tending the deer, finding them to be quite the intellectual creatures that people almost always overlook since the animals were the elusive type. And besides, what Nara matriarch would she be if she didn't get along with the deer?

Whipping out her phone from the basket, she took a few pictures of Shikadai and Rikumaru running on the clearing. The boy looked so happy and carefree that a part of her wanted him to just stay this way and keep his head out of the shinobi world. Then again, they have roles to do and while they didn't force being a ninja on him, Shikadai wanted to be.

 _ **Nara Temari: Consider this a warning when I get back to Suna two weeks from now, kono yaro.**_

 _ **Sabaku no Kankuro: What did I do this time? I haven't seen any of you in about a month!**_

The older sister did not see merit in supplying a reply to his message. She'll let Kankuro worry his idiotic little brain over the better part of two weeks just to build up the suspense.

"Kaa-chan. Let's go back. Rikumaru and the others are already being called to feed," Shikadai said, wiping the sweat off his brow.

"Right." Temari stood and handed him his hair tie. "Now put your hair up. I don't want to be scolded by the Nara elders again. Once was enough."

"You got scolded by the elders?" he asked incredulously, tying his hair up in his usual flair.

"Y-yeah…I kept breaking your father's hair ties in public," she explained, cheeks slightly turning pink at the distant memory. "And you know Nara men can't be seen with their hair down in public."

"But why did you keep on breaking it if you knew?" he asked, taking the basket from the ground.

"Well, I didn't. Not until his hair tie broke for the third time and muttered something about it. Only then did I know that it was forbidden. Also, we weren't married yet so I didn't know anything about clan rules or whatever."

"But why?"

"He looks extremely sexy with his hair down," she said with a dreamy sigh, the pink tint on her cheeks intensifying to a soft red. She didn't notice the grimace on her son's face, or if she did, she ignored it.

"Kimochi warui na, Kaa-chan," Shikadai said, shaking his head.

"Oi, oi. Kaa-chan is a woman in love," she said, flicking his nose with a smirk. "At least be thankful I still love your troublesome father after all these years."

"Hai, hai. Wakata wakata." He followed her to the nearest trail going home when she started walking.

"You only need to affirm once," she said, rolling her eyes.

"I know. But sometimes it's nice to annoy you too, Kaa-chan," he grinned cheekily.

"Careful. My Tessen is strapped to my back, you know," Temari replied playfully.

"I'm not stupid to annoy you on a bad day," Shikadai shrugged.

"Mendokusai na kono gaki."

"Heh. Now you sound like Oyaji."

The kunoichi snorted and then chuckled. "I'm not surprised. You tend to pick up habits after spending years after years together. I'd like to think he improved his work ethic because he picked it up from me."

"Was he really so lazy back then?" Shikadai asked.

"Extremely. Far lazier than you are. He would spend his days lying down on top of a hill and watching clouds, instead of standing by his post when waiting for missions. At least you're doing something even if it's that silly video game of yours," she remarked.

"It's not silly. It actually improves brainwork and teamwork."

"So you say," she said non-committally. "If you want to improve brainwork and teamwork, then you train in the woods. It will help becoming a better ninja, you know. Like three birds in one stone."

"But it's peaceful now, isn't it?" he asked with a shrug, looking up at his mother. "I know ninja are trained to fight and protect the village, protect the weak. What's the point of becoming a ninja these days? Oyaji…You…you guys all fought in the war years ago and it's been peaceful since."

Shikadai stopped walking when his mother did and his gaze remained on her, looking for an answer to his question. It had been more than a decade since the last shinobi war and all the shinobi were in alliance right now and their alliance continues through the help of people like Kaa-chan.

For a while, he was scared that he was going to get a pinch on the ear for asking the question, or a verbal berating since he made it seem like it was a pointless thing to become shinobi when his parents are two of the key people who contributed to the peace that was reigning at the moment. But then he saw that his mother had a serious face on, not an angry one, thinking of the best way to answer his question.

Finally, Temari turned to look at her son and she squatted down so that they were at close levels. Leave it to her genius of a son to ask the most thought-provoking questions that would be easily answered if his father were here. Then again, she wasn't so bad herself so she would have to do at the moment.

"Shikadai, shinobi are trained to fight and protect, yes. That doesn't only apply to people and the villages. Or heritage sights, or monuments that tell of our history. They —we— can also protect principles like the Will of Fire and the Will of the Wind. We also protect the peace that we did great efforts to achieve. Your father and I…we wanted to be part of creating the generation who will uphold the principles of peace. We want and hope that you nor your sister see and suffer the costs of war.

"But, we are also realistic. The war that we fought…it wasn't the end of everything chaotic. It did not end the anger, the fear, or the worries of the people who are affected. It is the period that comes after, the part where we heal that does that. And we have to protect that. When Shikamaru and I dreamed of a new era, we realized that there will always be bad eggs in the generation, wild cards who may not agree with the world we created after the war. And these are the people we need to be ready for. These are the people we need to educate so that they may not get lost in the path of darkness.

"Yes, again, shinobi are trained to fight and protect. That has been the norm for ages, ever since we made use of the chakra that was given to us. What changes from time to time is the purpose of the shinobi, the purpose of what we do. Why do we become strong? So that when that time comes, we will be ready to fight and protect what's important to us. Our King.

"Do you…understand what I am trying to say?" she asked gently, after her little monologue, laying a hand on her son's shoulder.

Again, he was silent for a while, his thinking face on and Temari let her words sink into the mind of her child. The kunoichi stood up but not before placing a kiss on his cheek. "I think that one is a bit hard to understand, but there will come a time that you will and it's okay if everything Kaa-chan said makes you confused. We're here to answer all your questions. After all, we've been there and back a few times already."

"Okay…so I gotta find my King?" he asked, taking her hand as they walked back home.

"Yes, but you don't need to force yourself to do it. Sometimes, it just happens naturally and it will come to you so easily that you will wonder why you have to search for it for so hard."

* * *

"Papa!"

The tiny voice that squealed behind him made Shikamaru cease his walking and turn around with a grin on his face. He saw his mother carrying his daughter walking the same direction he was. It pinched his chest pleasantly when he saw the little girl, as she looked very much like Temari, save for her nose. Her identical sandy blonde hair was up in two pigtails, the same way Temari wore her hair when they first started dating.

He was thankdul for his time off this afternoon. Naruto was determined to finish sorting the papers this morning and reserved the rest of the day to spend time with his family, which meant he would get to do the same as well. Shizune-san was kind enough to take over for the meantime, seeing as the two patriarchs needed at least half a day out of the Hokage office. Besides, with Temari's efficient paperwork done in advance, they had time to spare before they needed to prepare for the Shinobi Alliance meeting.

"Yuri-chan," he greeted warmly and fondly, taking his daughter out of his mother's grasp. "Were you a good girl for Baa-chan, bambi?"

Sayuri pouted up at his father and crossed her arms, looking away from him. "Papa didn't come to see me yesterday. Bambi mad."

Shikamaru laughed and kissed his daughter's blonde hair which was up in pigtails. She was becoming a little tsundere, taking a bit after Temari in that department. "Hai, hai. Papa's sorry. But Papa was busy yesterday. I did see you when you were asleep, though. And Papa doesn't have work the rest of the day today."

Yoshino chuckled at the little exchange and gently grazed Sayuri's plump cheek with the back of her fingers. "Just in time, then. We, elders, will have a meeting this afternoon. I was hoping Temari was already home."

"She is. She arrived late last night. I guess she let Yuri stay with you since it was so late anyways. What's the meeting about?"

"It's regarding the new herd of deer that suddenly joined ours," Yoshino informed him.

"Oh? Another one? Well, we can't exactly turn them away, can we?" Shikamaru replied.

"Iie. But we need to assess their health and whatnot. We're a little behind supplies as we have been entertaining more and more deer that seek refuge in our forest. The shipment's not coming till next week so we need to stretch our materials till then. We still can't figure how they're getting in, though."

"I guess I'll need to discuss that with the rest of the clan in the meeting in two days. Let me know the outcome of your meeting later, please," the clan head requested.

"I will," she hummed before she took Sayuri again to give her one more cuddle and shower her with lots of kisses, which made the little girl giggle wildly. "See you soon, bambi."

"Hai, Baa-chan! Bye bye!"

Shikamaru grinned as her little chubby hand waved after Yoshino and he kissed her cheek endearingly. "Still mad at Papa, bambi?"

"Iie. Papa's home so we can play together. Where's Mama? Is Mama home?"

"Mama's home, Yuri-chan," he confirmed with a nod and he began to walk them home, greeting some of the clan members as they passed the roads of the estate. Shikamaru had to chuckle, though, whenever Sayuri would enthusiastically greet the members and ask them their names if she didn't know them. She was such a princess, not that he minded.

* * *

"Tadaima!"

Three of the main family of the Nara clan greeted their house, not really expecting a reply. However, they were a little bit surprised when they heard each other's voices. Temari's chest warmed at the sound of her husband's voice, expecting him to finish later in the day. Shikamaru was likewise surprised that Shikadai was home, as he expected his son to run off somewhere with his friends on the first day of summer.

"O-ka-e-ri!" Sayuri greeted back with a giggle, shimmying down from her father's grasp and running to the direction of Temari's voice. "Mama!"

"Yuri-chan!" Temari exclaimed and dropped down to her knee, catching her darling little girl in her arms and peppering her with kisses. Let it not be said that Nara Temari did not miss her babies whenever she was on liaison duties. "Did you miss Mama, bambi? What did you do with Yoshino-baachan?"

"Hai!" Sayuri said, tightening her grasp around her mother. "Baa-chan made cookies and Nii-chan ate them with me. Sometimes Papa came to play too and Nii-chan did his homework but Papa didn't come yesterday and made Yuri-chan mad. Gaara-oji and Kankuro-oji talked to me in Yoshino-baachan's phone thingy! Gaara-oji made me a sandy castle and Kankuro-oji made me a doll!"

Temari chuckled at the thought, kissing Sayuri's cheek once more. "Seems like you had a good time, bambi. Were you a good girl for Baa-chan?"

"Bambi is always a good girl," she grinned cheekily up at her mother and Shikamaru couldn't help but think how similar that grin was to his wife's own.

"Tch, right," Shikadai rolled his eyes, thrusting the basket to his father and tugging on Sayuri's pigtail very lightly, if only to annoy her.

"Nii-chan naughty! Mama, nii-chan naughty!" Sayuri frowned, crossing her chubby arms.

The mother shook her head but couldn't find the words to appease the situation. She was simply far too glad to be home after a few days out of the house. Sayuri slid down from her and she watched as the little girl ran after her brother and successfully tackled him from behind.

The look on Shikadai's face was priceless and she had to laugh as the boy pried his sister off him carefully. "Kaa-chan!"

"Yuri, that's dangerous. Please don't do that to Nii-chan," Shikamaru gently admonished. "Go to the playroom if you're going to play. Not around here."

He watched as Shikadai dutifully took his sister's hand and led her to the mansion's designated playroom. It contained various toys that were mostly gifts to their children, and it was where Shikadai and his friends have their sleepover whenever they get the chance.

Shikadai clutched his baby sister's hand firmly. The little girl was a little hurricane and it fell on him to clean up her mess if she decided to swirl up a storm if she were under his care. The boy was still thinking about his mother's words earlier, how he would naturally find a King to protect. Then, he looked to where his and Yuri's hand joined and considered the little girl to be his King.

For now, he couldn't do much since he was still in training and he was still learning in the academy but he was Nii-chan and even if he and Yuri get into arguments sometimes, she was worth the trouble she causes. Like Kaa-chan said, the essence of a shinobi stays the same but the purpose changes. Perhaps now, his purpose was to make Yuri-chan happy and be the best big brother he can be for her.

And somehow, he knew that since they were the children of their parents, Sayuri would come to consider the life of shinobi as a fitting one for her as well. Then, his purpose would change then. He would still strive to be the best Nii-chan, only he would help Kaa-chan and Oyaji in teaching Sayuri about the ways of the ninja, the peace their parents fought for, and the King she would decide to protect.

For now, he was content in letting Sayuri mess his hair up by tying silly, colorful bands and attaching girly hair clips. If it was the way to be the best Nii-chan for her, then so be it.

* * *

 **A/N:** First of all, I would like to say thank you to every one who took the time to read. This has been my first chaptered fic about anything, so it means a lot that you guys deemed my work worthy enough of your time. Lol!

I would have to say that this story is a retaliation of sorts about what SP is doing with Boruto. They are completely throwing the kunoichi aside at the moment, kind of rendering them plain and simple. I know, the series is far too young for us to judge what it will do to the characters, and that the characters of Naruto and Naruto Shippuden are not the main focus of the new series. Still, I am an impatient person and I took this as an opportunity to interpret what I think is happening 'behind the scenes'. This story came to me when I read that Temari was so invested in becoming a proper wife of the Nara clan's head that she studied the clan's history, jutsu, and even created the semantics of the Kagemane no Jutsu upgrade which Shikadai used in the Chuunin exams. I kind of get the feeling they won't animate that or any of the new genin training with their mothers anytime soon, soo...

Anyways, enough of the rambling. I really hope you enjoyed this little story of mine. ShikaTema has been my OTP, probably my first OTP ever, and even if no one read my stories, I'll keep on publishing them for the sake of my own shipper heart. Hohoho.

Again, thank you for the reads, the faves, and the follows! I hope to see y'all next time. I have several more ShikaTema fics brewing up, most of them ShikaTema centric with added Shikadai on the side and sometimes, my OC Sayuri, too. I can't help but be in love with the Nara family, to be honest. It has been my dream since I shipped ShikaTema over a decade ago. Haha!


End file.
